UPDATE: The Orange County District Attorney's Office lays down the charges (see end of post) . . .
After Rebeca Garcia's son called police around 2:30 a.m. Thursday to say he found the dead body of his 57-year-old mother in the living room of her home in the 1900 block of Carlton Place in Santa Ana, responding officers discovered she had been stabbed to death.
On Sunday, police arrested Garcia's other son for her murder.
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An autopsy Friday revealed blunt force trauma also contributed to Garcia's death.
She lived in her home, a licensed care facility, with her mother and three patients. Her two adult sons also stayed there off and on. Her son Marvin Horatio Cipullo, 25, was not home when police arrived at the board-and-care facility early Thursday. Her silver 2002 Honda Civic was also missing.
Someone spotted Cipullo walking near First and Raitt streets in Santa Ana Sunday and called the cops. He was arrested close to there without incident. He was jailed with no bail on the murder rap.
The Civic was found near Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, according to police.
October 4, 2010
SON CHARGED WITH STABBING-MURDER OF MOTHER IN HER SANTA ANA HOME
SANTA ANA – A son has been charged with murdering his mother by stabbing her to death in her Santa Ana home. Marvin Horatio Cipullo, 25, Santa Ana, is charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life in state prison. Cipullo is being held on $1 million bail and is expected to be arraigned in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The date and time are to be determined.
On Sept. 30, 2010, Cipullo is accused of murdering his 57-year-old mother, Rebecca Garcia, by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Cipullo is accused of having a volatile relationship with his mother, who had recently made the defendant move out of her home. After murdering the victim, Cipullo is accused of fleeing the scene.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., Cipullo's brother discovered Garcia's murdered body on the floor of the home and called 911. Police began searching for Cipullo, who was arrested while walking in Santa Ana on Oct. 2, 2010, after a citizen recognized him and called the police.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Mike Murray of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.